The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-10-31
THE JACKsoN.scorT SUIT.
Judge Emory Speer's Decision in an
Interesting Case.

I
Interesting Case.
! Judge Speer has handed down his decis-
! ion upon the motion made by Gen. Henry
/ r. jackson, trustee, in the suit brought
| against him by some of the heirs of William
J. Scott. The case was reported in the
MORNING News last spring. In 1929, Scott
who was a wealthy Englishman, having
| business associations in Savannah, by his
will appointed Wayne Anderson trustee to
carry out the following trust: To pay
! dur ng their lives the income of equal
| moietieS of the testator's estate to his two
| daughters, Elizabeth Mckenzie and keziah
/ Scott Manson. These daughters were given
under the trust the right to designate by
their wills what individuals Of their chill
| dren should take the absolute title to the
notifies after their life estate had termin-
| ated.
The estate was very large and valuable,
and Mr. Anderson assumed the trust.
| Shortly afterward the war broke out and
| he invested large portion Of the funds in
| Confederate securities which persisted on his
! hands at the close of the war. Thereafter
| jackson, Lawton az Basinger, of Savannah,
| filed a bill in the Circuit Court of the
| United States to recover from Mr.. Ander
| son the money Of the estate which had
| been so invested, and they recovered over
| So, 900 in money and large amounts Of Cen
trial railroad Marine Bank and other stocks.
| Mr.. Anderson was removed from the
| trusteeship and Gen. jackson was appointed
! in his place. Pending the litigation there
| appeared 10 be considerable unwillingneSs to
sue Mr.. Anderson on the partOf some OF the
| beneficiaries, one or more of them being reluc-
| tant to hold Mr.. Anderson liable for invest
| ments lost by the failure of the Southern
| Confederacy. Mrs. Roland Hill Cor
don, who was Miss Manson, on her
marriage with Capt. Gordon, of the
| British army, had executed a mar
| riage settlement in which she re-
| lnquished all right to her share of the es-
tate except the income for her life, and con-
| veyed it to her children to be born of the
marriage Trustees were appointed under
this marriage settlement, and they refused
absolutely to join in the suit, but Mrs.
| Gordon, herself, joined individually, and,
being divorced from her husband, she mar
ried Col Arthur Hare Vincent, command
ing the Seventh Dragon Guards of the
British Army.
The suit proceeded, and decree was rem
dered against Mr.. Anderson for a very large
sum, over $4,000. which he paid to Gen.
Jackson the new trustee. The latter trans
mitted by bills sterling on London, after de-
Quoting Solicitors fees, the corpus of Mrs.
Vincent's moiety to her, emitting to con-
slider the marriage settlement by which she
After time she died, and the children
have written to the trustee asking for their
share, which would, if their claim is valid,
amount to about one-fourth of the entire
estate This gave the trustee very great
concern, as appears by his letters set out in
the answer and he claims that he has been
very badly treated.
The bill before the court was not filed by
the Gordons, but by the Crombies through
their next friend, Frank A. d. Hancock, of
this city, they being infants. These legateeS
claim distinct moiety of the estate under
the will of Elizabeth Mckenzie, who, it will
be remembered, had the power to designate
them as the absolute takers of her moiety
after her death. They sued Gen. jackson
for their share, amounting to a very large
sum, in fact one-half of the entire estate.
Gen. Jackson's answer aimed TO show that
he has been the victim of a conspiracy to
compel him to pay the Gordons' share twice
and he insisted that the Crombies should
not be allowed to proceed with their suit
until all the claimants under the Gordon
line shall be made parties.
In passing upon the motion Judge Speer
said that the parties against whom the de-
PENDANT desired the decree were not within
| the jurisdiction of the court. The state
ments of the answer, upon which is based
| the charge of a conspiracy entered into by
| DR.. and Mrs. Mckenzie, Col. Arthur Hare
Vincent and Mrs Vincent, formerly Mrs.
| Gordon, and her two children, and their re-
| spective solicitors, to wrong the defendant
and compel him to pay twice the shares of
the Gordon children, are altogether incom-
mensurate with the gravity Of the accusa-
tior. If, however, the averments of the
answer were ample for such purpose, it
does not follow that a wrong inflicted upon
the defendants by the Gordons or McKen-
zies can equitably be compensated to him
| from the estate of the Crombies